Matrix-making machine.



W. A. HBIDEL.

MATRIX MAKING MACHINE.

APPLIUATION FILED 11011.23, 1912. RENBWBD APR. 1e, 1914.

ji @@@y Eatented Jun@ 2, 193141..

5 SHEETS-SHEET l. j@ ggz 55'? WITH/58353 W. A. HEIDEL.,

MATRIX MAKING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED Nomzs, 1912. RENEWED APR. 16,m14.

W., A. HEDEL.

MATRIX MAKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. 23, 1912. BENEWBD APB. 16. 1914.

W. A. HEDEL.

MATRX. MKNG MACHINE.

MBLEGATIQN FILED Nov. 2s, m12. ummm @3.16, m14,

5 SHEETS-SHEET '1.

W. A. HBIDEL.

MATRIX MAKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. 2s, 1912. BENEWBD APR. 1s. 1914.

Patented June 2, 1914.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

num/5335s L' tti WUJBUR AUGUST HEIDEL, OF MANKATU, MINNESOTA.

Marnix-Maxine- Machine.

the following: l. To simplify the construction so as to enable themechanism to be` used where composing machines have heretofore beenfound rnipracticable on account of their cost. H. To provide forrecording,

from time to time, the matterto be printed and preserving a paper recordof such matter, to be used as a matrix from which slugs or stereotypeplates may be made whenever needed. Hl. To simplify the type barmechanism so that a number of independent type .bars may he lowered todifferent levels, each type bar carrying a plurality of type, .the partsbeing so arranged that the letters to be printed 1n a line are broughttogether by virtue of the diiferent levels of the several type bars. IV.To provide improved mechanism for restoring the several type bars to a.predetermined level which they Ynormally occupy. V. Toprovide forproperly alining and clamping the type in suit` able position to enablethem to make an impression or some equivalent step 'contemplating theprinting of a line. Vl. llo improve the locking and spacing mechanismfor holding the various type characters in suitable position for makingimpressions.

Reference is made to the accompanying drawings forming a part of thisspecification and in which like letters indicate like parts.

Figure l is a front elevation of my improved composing machine completeand ready for use; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same; Fig. 3 is anenlarged fragmentary side elevation corresponding to the middle portionof Fig. 2 but showing certain movable parts as occupying positionsdifferent from those represented in said gure; Fig. a is a fragmentaryside elevation corresponding to the-middle portion of Fig. 2 butenlarged'relatively thereto; Fig. 5 is a detail Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented June 2, 1914.

vF 5 looking in the direction of the arrow and showing a number of typebars together with means for-temporarily supporting the sainepreparatory to making an impress1on from the types; Fig. 7 is a sectionon the line 6--6 of Fig. 5 but showing the type bars alone; Fig. 8 is afragmentary perspective showing the upper portions of two top bars andtheir guide wires; and, Fig. 9 is a fragmentary section on'the line 9-9of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow. Y

A pair of base bars are shown at 10, and eirtending upwardly from themare two side bars 11-12 A top bar 13 extends across from one side bar tothe other. nected with the side bars lll-12 and eX- tending forwardlytherefrom and toward each other, are brace bars lil-14., 15S-15, andsupported upon these brace bars are a pair of front bars 16--17 whichextend throughout practically the height of the machine. l provide anumber of pedestals 18 all exactly alike, only one being shown in Fig.l. Fach pedestal carries a stationary sector 19 which is provided withnotches 20, and also with the letters of the alphabet, as shown in Fig.l, or with any other lcharacters or intelligible marks or symbols to beprinted. The number of sectors employed should equal the number of type.hars and as a consequence should equal the maximum number ofletters-and spaces in a full line. l nd it veryoonvenient .to usefifty-two letters upon each sector-that is to say, twenty-six capitalsand ,twenty-six lower case letters, the number of notches 2() in anyevent corresponding to the number of letters or other characters withwhich the sector is provided.

Associated with each sector is a key lever 21 journaled upon a pivot rod22 and adapted to be turned angularly by hand. 'llhe key lever carries apawl 23 which lodges in any one of the notches 20, as the lever isturned upon its pivot rod, so as to hold theflever 1n such position thatits outer end is associated with some one let-ter or character. Thelower portion of the key lever 21 is provided with a slot 24:, andextending through this slot is a pivot .pin 25. A rod 26 carries thispivot pin and'each of these Con- CFI

rods is connected by a pivot pin 27 with the lower end of acorresponding supporting bar 28. 'Each supporting bar is slightlyinclined, as indicated in Fig. 2, and is provided upon one of its edgeswith a number 0f teeth 29 corresponding to the number of letters orother characters to be printed by the machine. The several supportingbars are journaled upon'a rod 30, the latter extending through twobrackets 31 which project backwardly :trom the top of the side bars 12.

A number of guiding wires 32 extend through the top bar 13 and alsothrough a bottom bar 13a, disposed parallel with the top bar, yetlocated at the bottom of the Inachine. Each guidin wire 32 is providedat its lower end with a4 lead 32a and is fitted at its upper end with anut 32h. By aid ofthis nut the guidino wire maybe given any desireddegree oit tensionthe idea being to render it straight at all times.

The type bars are shown at 33. Each is an elongated flat bar of metalprovided with a number of type notches 34, and is adapted to bendslightly when pressed upon at a convenient point adjacent its middleportion, as hereinafter described. l also provide a guide bar 35 (seeFig. 1) having generally the form of a type bar but carrying no types.The guide bar in question is placed at the left of the type barsaccording to Fig. 1, and is the end bar of the series. lts purpose is toprovide a vertically disposedv flat surface in order to keep theadjacent vertical row of types, carried by the type bar next to theguide bar and parallel therewith, in proper position, so that the typescannot drop ol vthe type bars or become displaced. Each type bar isadapted to bind against the types carried by the next successive typebar, whenever the type bars are crowded together asl hereinafterdescribed. .lhe various type bars 33 and thev guide bar 35 are severallyprovided with guide arms 36437, these arms having eyes Stia-38 whichencircle the guide wires 32. Each guide arm 37 is provided with a linger38a integral with it and extending laterally and backwardly from it, asindicated in Fig. 6. The purpose of the lingers 38a is to lodge upon theshoulders 29 and support the type bars or guide bar, as the case may be,the level at which the same is supported being determined by the levelat which the finger 38 engages the particular shoulder 29 upon which itrests, and this level in turn being controlled by the degree ofinclination given to the supporting bar 28.

Located near the bottom of the frame ot the machine and having a slightvert-ical play relatively thereto, is a lifting bar 38b provided withteeth 38C, each having generally the form of a fork, the several forksstraddling the .guide wires 32, as indicated in Fig. 6. The purpose ofthe lifting bar 38b is to raise the several type bars and the guide bar35 into a predetermined plane which they normally occupy. For thepurpose of raising the lifting bar 38b I provide cords 39 which extendpartially around pulleys l40-41. The pulleys 40 are mounted Aupon theside bar's'11-12, and the pulleys 41 are carried upon the upper ends ofthe two arms 42. These arms are connected rigidly with a sha-ft 43,which extends through the base ofthe framework of the machine. Connectedwith the arms 42 is a lever 44. By

raising the outer or free end of this lever, the arms 42 are. swungbackward so as to tighten the cords 39, and thus elevate the li ting bar38h. The types are shown at 45, and are located loosely upon the typebars. Each type is provided with two lugs 46, which fit neat-ly againstthe adjacent edges of the type bar upon which the type is carried. Eachtype is further provided with a face 48, which in this instance is animpression face. By this arrangement each type is loose upon the' typebar carrying it, but has no appreciable degree of play.

Carried by the front bars 17 are two pairs of Aarms 51 and 52 (see Fig.2), the arms 51 supporting a roll 53- of impression paperthat is, paperof considerable thickness, and made soft enough to receive an impressionfromtype for purposes of stereotyping. The arms 52 support a roll 54 andthe web ot' paper, which is shown at 55, winds oi from the roll 53 andonto the roll 54. A ratchet wheel 56 is connected with the roll 54 forthe purpose of turning the latter step by step. A. pawl 57 engages theratchet wheel 56 and turns the latter. This pawl is pivotally mountedupon a hand lever 58, this lever being mounted upon a shaft 59 journaledupon short arms 60.

Rigidly mounted upon the shaft 59 at the end thereof opposite the handlever 58 is an arm 61, which is at all times parallel with the upperportion of the hand lever. A platen 62 having the form of a flat 'bar isconnected rigidly with the arm 61, and with the lever V58, sothat aswinging movement of the hand lever 58 causes the platen 62 to move, inthe arc of a circle, to the same eX-v tent as the hand lever. The handlever and the arm 61 are provided with notches 63, and adjacent to thesenotches are guide pins 63a, which extend across from the hand lever58130 the arm 61. The guide pins 63a are for the purpose vof guidin theweb 55 of paper as it is fed downwar ly step by step, in accordance withthe movements of the hand lever 58, and a consequent step by steprotation of the ratchet wheel 54. Mounted upon the side bars 11--12 areguide plates 64-65 provided with inclined edges 66-67, between which is,a substantially V-shaped opening, as indicated in Fig. 4.v A. pair ofinnata? wedge bars G84-69 are located within this opening. Each of thesewedgebars has in cross section the form of a truncated wedge, and thewedge bars are supported upon the hand lever458 and arm. 61 by aid ofstout spiral springs 70-71, so as to have a slight degree of movementrelatively to other parts.

lPivotally connected with the arm 61 and with the hand lever 58 are twolinks 72-73, which extend backwardly to the rear of the machine, and arethere pivotally connected to the lower ends of two levers 74. Extendinefrom one of these levers to the other is a lbar 75, which is providedwith a groove 76 of proper size and form to tit against the rear ends ofthe types 46. The levers 74 are pivotally mounted on brackets 77 distill liti

posed at opposite sides of the frame work. rlhe parts are so arrangedthat when the hand lever 58 is pressed backward, that is to the right,according to Fig. 4, the bar 75, (see Fig. 9) is forced directly againstthe adjacent ends of the types for the purpose of alining the'niaccurately. Mounted upon one of the guide plates 67 is a bracket 78, andpivoted upon the latter is an arm 79 provided with a. portion 80, bentinwardly toward the center of the machine, and extending through a hole80, so as to engage the guide bar 35.

Carried by the arm 61 is a bracket 81,

which partially encircles the arm 79. Whenever the hand lever 58V ismoved so that the arm 61 moves with it, the bracket 81 by sliding alongthe arm 79 causesthe portion 80 of this arm to be forced inwardlyagainst the guide bar 35, thus tightening the particular .row or line oftype under consideration, or in other words temporarily locking a lineot type just set, as will be understood from Fig. 9. Each type bar 33carries at its lower end a spacer 82, having generally the form of aleaf spring of a substantially semi-circular shape and carried by a pin83. rlhe spacer normally tends to force the adjacent type bars on eachside oit it a distance apart rather greater than the thickness of a typebar, but when pressure is applied to the line by the arm 79, the severalspacers yield to substantially the same extent as indicated in Fig. 9,so that the length of the line oit type setis constant. rllhe uppermostshoulder 29 of each supporting bar 28 is the one associated with thespacer 82 carried by the correspondingtype bar.-

rlhe operation of my device is as tol* lows The various parts beingformed and assembled, as above described, and the paper rolls 55-56 withtheir web 55 being disposed as indicated, the operator first sees thatthe various hand levers are pushed back so as to occupy their respectivenormal positions (see Fig. 2). 'llhe lever 58 being in its normalposition, ia swung outwardly,

and the hand lever 44 being down as here shown, the various type barsare now supported upon the uppermost shoulders 29 ot the respectivesupporting bars 28 and are all in the same plane Suppose now that theoperator wishes to compose a line. He draws the wariouslevers 21angularly torward one at a time, and in so doing causes the bottoms ofthe various supporting bars 28, corresponding to the respective lettersand spaces to be used in the line, to swing backwardly and thus take upnew positions at varying degrees of inclination. As each supporting bar28 moves backwardly into its new position, the corresponding type barheretofore supported by the bar in question is now left unsupported sothat it drops down and lodges against some one of the shoulders 29-theparticular shoulder being determined of course by the inclination of therespective supporting bar 28, and this in turn bein@ determined by theangular position oi' tie appropriate lever 21 associated with theparticular type bar and the particular supporting bar 28 in question.The type bars thus drop downwardly into diferent planes, but as thevarious type notches 34 carried by one type bar are always in registrywith notches carried by the other type bars, the types forming the rowor line to be printed are always in proximate alinement after the dropof the type bars.

-The operator forces the lever 58 backward,

that is to the right, according to Fig. 2. ln doing this he causesvarious movements above described to take place in the mechanism. Thatis to say the pawl 57, by turn ing` the ratchet wheel 56, slightlyrotates the roll 54 and pulls the web 55 slightly downward to a distancerepresenting the distance from one line to the next ot the matter to beprinted or impressed. The wedge bars 68-69 are forced against theinclined sur face 66 67 of the guide plates 64 65 and are, therefore,forced against the respective upper and lower surfaces oit the reducedportions 47 of the types, the inner oi' thin edges of the wedge barslodging against the shoulders 46. At the same time this takes place themovement ot the alinement bar (see Fig. 9) against the rear ends of thetypes insures the alinement oi these ends and consequently a properpositioning of the types in the particular line now under construction.'llheplaten 62 which is faced with soft material now presses theadjacent portion ot the web 55 against the faces of the types so as tocause the latter to slightly bury themselves in the web--or in otherwords, to leave an imprint upon vthe same., At the same instant whenthese` movements are taking place the arm 79 is (see Fig. 9) swungslightly inward by the movement of the bracket 81, so that the portion80 of the arm 79 presses .lengthwise against the row llt of type to belocked. The spacing springs 82 are adapted to yield to a certain extent,that is to an extent suflicient toequalize the spacing between theseveral words of the line in order that the line may be of a stand,

ard length, corresponding of course to the width of the column of mattercomposed. The impression being made the hand lever 5S is retracted, thatis, moved to the left according to Figs. 2 and 4. The lever 44 is nowraised and this causes the lifting bar 38b to be elevated in order torestore the various type bars 33 andthe guide bar 35 to their normalpositions. The process above described is now repeated successively foreach line of type to be composed. The impression strip thus made fromthe web can be laid aside and at any subsequent time used as a matrixfor molding either slugs or a stereotype plate as desired in order thatthe matter thus composed may be placed in a press and printed.

In small oices, and especially in country oiiices, the apparatus abovedescribed may be employed to advantage in printing and composing newsitems, editorials, advertisements or other`appropriate matter, and thesame may be saved in the form of an impression strip, which may at theend of the Week, or any other appropriate period, be used for the'purpose of molding the slugs or the stereotype plates as desired.

The machine described may be cheaply constructed and may be operated bya person having comparatively little trainin' in this art. The parts areall readily accessible, and

may be removed or replaced with a minimum of time and labor.

I have described the apparatus as of peculiar service in makingimpressions upon paper suitable for the purpose to facilitatereproduction of the matter composed at any subsequent time. It isobvious however that most of the mechanism described may be employedwith equal facility for molding slugs directly against the faces of theline of type. In this event the types 49 above described will be of thekind known in this art as matrices or female type, and the casting ofthe slugs may be performed in any manner known in this art and which Ido not deem it essential to describe.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is as follows l.' A `device of the characterdescribed, comprising a plurality of type bars, means controllable atthe will of the operator for shifting said type bars into differentrelative positions in order to form a line of types selected fromdifferent bars, a hand lever, an arm connected therewith, wedge barscarried by said hand lever and said arm and provided with surfaces forfitting upon different portions of said type in order to bring said typeinto exact alinement, guide plates mating said wedge bars, for guidingthe latter toward said type, and means carried by said hand lever andsaid arm for forcing against said type a transient member to beimpressed thereby.

2. A device of the character described, comprising a plurality of types,means for bringing the same into approximate alinement, wedge bars forfitting againstoppositely disposed surfaces of said types, means forguiding said wedge 'bars against oppositely disposed portions of saidtypes, an alinement bar for engaging the ends of said types, means forforcing said wedge bars in one direction and said alinement bar in theopposite direction, a hand lever, means carried by said hand lever forforcing a web of paper into engagement with the face of the Y type, andmechanism ycontrollable step by step by movement of said hand lever foradvancing said web of paper.

3. A device of the character described, comprising a plurality ofsupporting bars each provided with a number of shoulders, a plurality oftype bars adapted to be supported at different levels by said shoulders,the level at which each particular type bar is supported beingdetermined by the degree of movement of the corresponding supportingbar, and means controllable at the will of the operator for conferringdiierent degrees of inclination-upon the respective supporting bars inorder to support said type bars at predetermined levels.

WILBUR AUGUST HEIDEL.

Witnesses:

F. W. DARsoW, EDWARD LANGES.

